“To revise administrative procedures relating to public safety officers' death benefits, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises the eligibility determination process under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program (i.e., death, disability, and education benefits for public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty). Specifically, it (1) requires the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to identify the basis for processing delays, including claimant inaction or agency noncooperation; (2) establishes new timelines and procedures, including notice of missing information within 90 days of claim receipt, eligibility determination notice within 270 days of a complete claim (i.e., one with all required documents and a claim number), and a single interim benefit payment if the 270-day deadline is missed (payable to undisputed eligible beneficiaries or escrow accounts, creditable against final awards but not subject to recoupment except for fraud); (3) directs ongoing BJA outreach to public safety officers, underserved agencies, and disabled officers via national organizations; (4) requires BJA to submit congressional summaries of backlogged claim data; and (5) mandates annual Government Accountability Office audits of claims pending over one year, reviewing processing stages, delay reasons, subpoena use, outreach effectiveness, and claims manual implementation. It further requires BJA to issue subpoenas to public agencies failing to provide necessary claim information within 30 days (extendable to 60 days). It also amends PSOB definitions to (1) clarify "direct and proximate" disability as preventing "sedentary work including sedentary work or gainful work as a public safety officer," (2) define "complete claim," and (3) define "gainful work" by cross-reference to Social Security regulations (42 U.S.C. 416.972); and corrects "parapalegic" to "paraplegic."
This section amends section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281), part of the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program, to establish a new benefit equal to half the permanent total disability amount for public safety officers permanently but not totally disabled by a line-of-duty injury that prevents gainful work in that role (including medical retirement), calculated as of the injury date (inflation-adjusted per subsection (i) and per subsection (j)). (1) If the disability progresses to permanent total within three years, the officer receives the full amount less prior payments; (2) any subsequent line-of-duty death benefit is reduced by prior partial disability payments; and (3) the new benefit does not affect full death or total disability benefits or apply to temporary impairments. The section further revises the interim payment provision to cover the new benefit (up to $6,000, inflation-adjusted per subsection (i)); redesignates subsections (c) through (q) as (d) through (r); updates cross-references accordingly; removes "and total" from multiple disability references; and makes conforming amendments to other provisions in part L and related laws.
This section requires the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, to approve public safety officer death benefit claims under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program if certified as eligible for death benefits by the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) or if the cause of death is certified as a World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP)-related condition. (As background, the PSOB program provides one-time payments to survivors of public safety officers killed in the line of duty; the VCF compensates 9/11 victims and families; and the WTCHP monitors and treats eligible 9/11 responders and survivors.)
This section directs the Attorney General to ensure that the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance implements recommendations from the Government Accountability Office report entitled “Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program: Transparency, Claims Assistance, and Program Management Improvements Needed” (GAO–24–105549, published September 27, 2024) not later than 180 days after enactment. (As background, the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program, administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers injured or killed in the line of duty and their families.)
This section specifies that nothing in this Act or its amendments expands or alters educational benefits available to dependents (i.e., children and spouses) of public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty under subpart 2 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.